Bolton and Hannity: Let’s Get This War Party Started!

John “I want war against Iran” Bolton was on Hannity & Colmes Thursday night (6/14/07) in another transparent effort to foment war against Iran and what are we waiting for? Sean Hannity told an approving Bolton, “It almost seems imperative that we act (against Iran) at some point or we will regret that we missed this opportunity.” With video.

They used the same old scare tactics we have come to expect from neocons looking for war: We can’t wait; Those who don’t see the urgency don’t get it. In FOX News’ case, the mantra seems to be: Let’s not get bogged down with too many facts.

Bolton was ostensibly on the show to discuss the Palestinian unrest. But, as in his two prior appearances on Hannity & Colmes, Bolton used that issue as an excuse to drum up war fever against Iran. Rather than consider what options the US might be able to play in quelling the violence, Bolton wasted little time looking for opportunities to exploit it. He quickly told Alan Colmes, who hosted the first part of the interview, “The real issue is did Hamas decide to do this on its own or did some outside force like Iran have something to do with it?”

Colmes asked what proof there is that Iran is involved. Bolton dodged that question by saying, “There’s no doubt that Iran funds and supplies Hamas with weapons.” Actually, according to the BBC, there is a doubt. An excellent article called Q&A: Chaos in Gaza states, "(Hamas') main supporters are Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Iran has pledged financial support, but it is not clear how much of it has got through to Gaza." Funny how Bolton never said anything about either Saudi Arabia or Egypt during the discussion.

Bolton added that he thinks we’re already in a de facto war with Iran in Iraq. “I think what this shows is that Iran is on a roll in the region. They’re pushing out, they’re not getting any push back.” Once again, the BBC says otherwise. An article called "America's Financial War On Iran" is subtitled, "The United States is waging an undeclared financial war on Iran as part of efforts to persuade the Tehran government to abandon alleged plans to acquire nuclear weapons." Funny how you have to go to foreign news stations for information about our own country.

I so wished Colmes had asked Bolton why, if Iran is such an enemy, it was such a good idea to overthrow its enemy next door in Iraq and install an Iranian-friendly government in its place. I’d pay money to see the look on Bolton’s face at that question. But, sadly, it’s very unlikely anyone in the corporate media will ask that of any of the Iran-war hawks.

Colmes did ask how on earth we could start a military action against Iran given how overstretched our forces are already. “How do we do that?”

Bolton dodged the question again. “I think with respect to the nuclear program, that the military option is important.” He gave no indication how our overtaxed military would handle the likely consequences. He did concede as how there are a number of other punitive options we can take to counter their supposed support for terrorism in the region “well short of military force but would show Iran that we’re simply not going to tolerate this.” His only example was an increase of support for Prime Minister Saniora in Lebanon.

When it was Hannity’s turn, he immediately turned to Iran. In fact, it was his only interest in the issue. He made some suspicious claims, including that Bolton “confirmed” that Iran is funding Hamas. “It almost seems imperative that we act at some point or we will regret that we missed this opportunity."

Bolton once again dredged up the old Iraq war-drum tactic of belittling anyone less bellicose. “I regret to say that to date the Europeans simply do not see the Iranian threat the way we do... At some point, somebody in Europe has to say, you know, we’ve been trying this for four years, we’ve tried this behavioral approach… and Iran’s behavior isn’t changed. After four years of failure, I think it’s time to call it quits.”

Maybe we could say the same thing about the war in Iraq.

By the way, neither Hannity nor Bolton has put their own fannies where their mouths are. Hannity declined to serve in the military at all. As for Bolton, the Yale Daily News reports:

Though Bolton supported the Vietnam War, he declined to enter combat duty, instead enlisting in the National Guard and attending law school after his 1970 graduation. "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy," Bolton wrote of his decision in the 25th reunion book. "I considered the war in Vietnam already lost."